Almost Half of Americans Use Facebook, Only 7% Use Twitter

Almost Half of Americans Use Facebook, Only 7% Use Twitter

In the online world, where we eat and breathe social networking, we often take for granted that our craft has gone mainstream. It seems everyone these days is online, using services such as LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter, right? Facebook alone has 600 million users, so everyone must be on it, right? eMarketer, an online research firm, recently conducted a study to gauge how mainstream social media use is among adult Americans.

For Facebook, 42.3% of Americans use the service at least once per month. Meanwhile, only 7% of Americans use Twitter and only 9% of Americans who are already Internet users use it. Facebook has made inroads with its use of popular services such as photos, messages and groups. These services resonate with mainstream Americans, whereas Twitter is used mainly by more hardcore Internet users.

Twitter has shown some decent growth in the last few quarters, but the service has largely remained the same, and the company has chosen not to add new features to enhance the service. Facebook, on the other hand, is constantly revealing new features, making it more attractive to online users and fueling its colossal growth pattern.

Also Social media is magical because of the connections it spawns. By barely lifting a finger, anyone can reach out and get opinions on all kinds of subjects. This is one of the reasons social media makes doctors cringe. A recent CNET article gives some insights to the underlying issues. In short, because of privacy issues, partial problem descriptions and search engine optimization make the web a good place to get general information, but not a detailed diagnosis.

For example, In a recent Quora question, someone with a fractured ankle asked how to train for a marathon despite the injury. Luckily, a person answering the question urged the questioner to seek medical advice. The web is full of bad medical advice that is sometimes easily discovered. Also, because of health care laws, doctors are advised not to give advice, even if they feel compelled.

The American Medical Association has told doctors that social media is beneficial, but warned about weighing in on online conversations because of a doctors' desire to preserve their reputation and privacy. Health care is a relationship that is best left to the provider's office, not in any public online forum. While general information can be sought online, personal diagnoses should be sought in close conversation with your medical provider.


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